BulletMagnet\'s Intergalactic Scrap Heap

LONG BLOG

There’ve been a lot of hefty Tribunes lately, though I doubt you mind….not so much for the bevy of news available, but because it usually shuts me up in these intro/closing sections. Usually.

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There is a very long video out about Darius Burst Another Chronicle if you’ve got some time on your hands.

Strike Witches has been out for a bit now, and while most impressions I’ve heard of it are less than stellar, interested players might like to know that there’s DLC coming, most notably an additional character (for 800 points, ick) and a “Time Attack” mode (for 400) – each has an achievement or two attached, though, so perfectionists will have to fork out. Oh, and aside from the expected pictures and such, there’s also a theme or two in the offing.

A few more details have been revealed concerning Radirgy Noah Massive for the 360 – the game will be a physical release (yay) and will be out at the end of October (check Amazon’s listing for the cover art and 2 screenshots). Now to wait to find out what’s actually included…rumor has it that three new modes are in there, but we’ll need some confirmation from Milestone on that.

Mediatronic, aka the Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess guys, are working on a side-scrolling PSP shooter hybrid known as Who’s That Flying? (incidentally, they also did Work Time Fun). There’s apparently a “tower defense” element here, as allowing too many enemies to pass you unscathed is a bad thing – looking forward to hearing more. (DToid coverage here.)

I hate to be the bearer of bad news for PAL shmup fans (or anyone else, really), but it would appear that Raiden Fighters Aces has been delayed until September 24th. On the bright side, Gundemonium Collection should be available to help pass the time.

Gamestop has updated its listing for Otomedius Excellent – if it’s accurate, the price for the game should be 50 bucks. Now it’s up to Konami to convince me that the game is worth even this price…

Treasure’s home page says that the company is recruiting for development of a 3D shooter of some sort…not much else is known at this point, but hopefully it gets further than Project RS3 did. (DToid coverage here.)

While the teaser movie for upcoming XBLA Indie title Solar Struggle doesn’t reveal much, the trailer found on the game’s official site shows some gameplay – looks like a shooter with a “behind-the-ship” perspective, but not on rails.

I’m sure that most of us have encountered a girl with a tollbooth directly adjacent to her naughty bits at some point, but this new video of Privates allows us to relive those times in the least-titillating way possible. In any case, it’s difficult to ignore a game which contains a chapter titled “At Your Cervix”.

Last issue doujin robot run-n-gun Gigantic Army was briefly name-dropped – this week a fellow shmup forum member posted a video of the full demo version. Nice explosions!

If you enjoyed freeware side-scroller Hydorah (or are just interested in the homebrew scene or shmups in general), make sure to check out this nice interview with the game’s creator, Locomalito: he talks about his influences, his other projects, shows off some concept art, and even reveals how he got his name.

Another notable recent interview comes courtesy of Edge magazine, which talked with a few of the fellows from Cave – the main gist of the excerpts found at the link seems to be “we’re not stopping on the iPhone anytime soon.” That’s fine in and of itself, but I hope they don’t forget that some of us prefer to play their stuff on something other than a handheld…

The “win some XBLA shooters” contest from a French shmup site that I’ve mentioned a few times in here has again expanded its roster of prizes – the usual link is here if you want to check it out.

It would appear that last week’s Space Invaders chair was not complete: not without a matching table, anyway.

If you bought BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, you already know that there’s a pretty thorough (and condescending, thanks to Rachel’s constant insults) set of tutorials in there to get you up to speed on how everything works: if you don’t have that primer available, check out this video on the front page for a rundown of some system changes since the first BlazBlue. Moreover, click here for a bunch of pictures of DLC squirrel ninja girl Makoto, and here for a few thoughts on “Beginner” mode.

By the way, if you’re concerned that BlazBlue might be inching towards a “2.5-D” makeover a la Street Fighter IV, the producer assures us that he intends to stick with the flat stuff. (DToid coverage here. Finally, it looks like PAL fight fans will get the last laugh in exchange for their patience – not only is their release of CS a “limited” edition with an art book and some cards, but they can also fork over some extra for a “Fan” edition, which tacks on an art print, the Noel Nendoroid figure from the Japanese version, and a code to download Makoto. There are only 500 of the latter, though, and you can only get them on the publisher’s site, so make sure to pre-order!

A pair of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 videos appear on DToid’s front page – one is a match featuring Amaterasu and Thor which was linked last week, but I think the second one (with Super Skrull) is new. By the way, contact Capcom and demand that Sheep Man be made playable! Doo eet naoughw!

So, we’ve gotten a look at Street Fighter X Tekken, but what about Namco’s name-reversed companion piece? The answer, it appears, will reveal itself at Gamescom on the 19th. The two companies are already hissing at each other, so it oughta be interesting. (DToid coverage here.)

*sigh*….c’mon SNK, at least pretend you’re trying! It would appear that the arcade version of King of Fighters XIIIcontains several potentially-game-breaking bugs (most of them associated with characters from XII, to boot), to the point where special tournament rules are required. They’d better knuckle down HARD between now and the console release if they want my dollars this time…

Tekken’s series producer offers some words of possible comfort to Jun Kazama fans: in terms of official series canon she is not dead, but “her whereabouts are unknown”. As far as the possibility of seeing her return in-game, well…apparently a whole load of people begged him to bring Kunimitsu back in Tag Tournament and nobody used her, so once bitten, twice shy…also, while you might mock Tekken, the numbers don’t lie. Tekken 6 is still selling strongly in the USA, taking the top spot as Namco’s best-selling game for this past quarter. That’s a whole lotta Christie (and possibly one or two others, but I doubt it).

I doubt this will affect many of you out there, but all of SNK’s “NeoGeo Online” PS2 fighting game releases will be losing their online capabilities in September. Well, at least Japan got to use it for awhile…we got exactly squat on that front.

For those of you more interested in the Mortal Kombat reboot than I am, here are a few more images.

nilcam might have ceded control of the PS3 Fight Club ranbat in favor of his new project, but he still stops by to update contestants and observers on the latest overall standings. Enkido, meanwhile, recounts his Ranbat Experience so far…and asks for some help in picking his character for the next round.

And that’s not all on the tourney scene either: before we’ve even had much of a chance to recover from Evolution, it’s almost time for Season’s Beatings!

I haven’t seen the Scott Pilgrim movie, but Agent Holmes has – you could also play this new trailer. Anyways, if you’re 1) More interested in the upcoming game (like me), and 2) Not totally sick of zombies (unlike me), watch this clip for a code to allow yourself to kill some zombies in a video game. Exciting. Meanwhile, I’ll just be over here. (DToid coverage here.)

As per usual, the latest gallery of cosplayers (in this case from Otakon) shows up in the “Fighters” section, thanks to a strong genre showing by the participants: highlights include Sol from Guilty Gear, Taokaka of BlazBlue, and Juri from Street Fighter (one or two more, most notably Zangief, are here). Of course, cosplay isn’t just for nerd convention anymore: apparently there’s a video game-themed dodgeball team out there somewhere who often dress up for matches. Decided to link it here since there are several Street Fighter players present.

Meanwhile, this edition of “Fanart Flops” is mostly devoted to (what else) Sonic the Hedgehog, though I had to give it a mention due to the appearance of a Waluigi/Sagat crossover, complete with atomic purple chest scar.

It wasn’t Sunday, but Sagat made his return…and brought a “friend”. Who knew the big fella led such a saucy lifestyle?

Here is a video of a guy cursing a lot. Supposedly this was done during an online Street Fighter IV match. Was it, actually? It’s kinda hard to tell, honestly…anyways, feel free to judge for yourselves (if you don’t mind being indirectly sworn at for a couple of minutes).

Only marginally fighting game-related, but I couldn’t resist mentioning that you’ll soon be able to buy those Servbot bubble-budd things.

Since this is easily the weirdest news of the month, it has to be posted first: it appears that Nippon Ichi and Imageepoch (the Luminous Arc guys) are teaming up to produce a bizarre “RPG” called Criminal Girls, in which you play as a guard at a women’s prison, and use techniques from spanking to massage to “rehabilitate” the inmates under your care. A small magazine glimpse can be seen here, while some clearer images and additional info are here - you bet your life I’ll be following this one closely. (DToid coverage here.)

Siliconera remains at the forefront of Falcom coverage with this posting on Zero no Kiseki – look within for information, images, and a three-minute trailer. Moreover, the release date for Ys Seven inches closer (got my LE on pre-order) – in the meantime a few more screens are viewable here.

Readers already knew that Half-Minute Hero was getting a “spiritual sequel” called Zikande Fantasia, but why stop there? The game, after all, has also rated a full-fledged second entry, currently titled Yuusha 30 Second. It will focus solely on various “Hero” segments (as opposed to the differing protagonists and gameplay styles of the first), and will also include a stage edit mode. Yeah, I think this has earned a JOY! from me. (DToid coverage here.)

While I continue to complain about NISA’s online store not putting up the LE of Atelier Rorona for pre-order yet (seriously guys, get on that already!), we learn that sequel Atelier Totori is getting some DLC in Japan, which allows you to recruit a previously unavailable NPC into your party and opens up a few extra options.

Sega has a new Shining Force RPG offshoot, titled Shining Hearts, in development, and it’s coming to the PSP – Tony Taka is again doing the artwork (a group shot of the characters can be seen here). The plot (amnesia, again) doesn’t sound too promising, but hopefully it does something more interesting on the gameplay end…

You’ll have to wait a bit to see it, but Square promises that a new trailer for The 3rd Birthday will be in front of your eyes soon. In the meantime, some of the game’s staff has been busy on Twitter – here you can see a new image and read a general progress update, over here there’s already talk of a possible HD sequel (and, more realistically, a possible demo), and a bit more is here. Oh, by the way, did you hear that the first two Parasite Eve titles might be coming to PSN?

Meanwhile, a bit more was revealed about the Tactics Ogre remake – a new class (“Rogue”) will be tacked on, and a pre-order bonus is also a possibility.

Ever so slowly, new assets for Radiant Historia trickle out – here are a handful of images and a bit of additional information.

The same goes forThe Last Story – this recent bevy of screens demonstrates the player’s ability to distract monsters away from spellcasters to give the latter time to charge up. Could be interesting to fiddle around with, if it actually works decently…you can also look at a bit more of the game’s general scenery. (DToid coverage here.)

Were you interested in trying out Record of Agarest War, but didn’t want to be seen walking out of the store with the “Really Naughty Limited Edition”? Well, according to this listing, a less-pervy-looking “regular” edition should be available by the time you read this, and at a 30-buck price point – here’s your opportunity to get in on it with (some of) your dignity intact!

If you thought that Capcom’s Last Ranker was only going to be a video game, you’d be incorrect: next month it’s getting a manga as well.

Hey, so you know Shigenori Soejima? Y’know, the guy who took over doing the art for Persona after Kazuma Kaneko abdicated? Well, an art book of his recent stuff is being released in Japan, featuring his work on the recent Personas along with one or two other things. Atlus also continues to torture overseas fans with a bunch of other merchandise connected to a concert tour – hope you’ve got some spare PayPal funds handy once these things show up on eBay.

Looks like it’s officially time to start calling the game Sola to Robo, instead of the abbreviated version I’ve been using – anyways, the front page has dug up a new trailer upon which to feast your eyes. Anyways, sorry Agent North, you’re not fooling anyone – you’re SO totally a closet Furry.

Siliconera interviews the Producer of DJ Max Portable 3, and while he refuses to comment on a whole bunch of questions, he does promise that “something exclusive” will be included in the North American release. Off to the side, he says that there’s “some trouble” with Gunbird 2 Remix, but I honestly can’t say I’m too choked up about that. You can also check out a video of the new “remix” feature in action. By the way, PM Studios is apparently ramping up production, since they’re hiring.

I’m still having trepidations about picking up Disgaea Infinite since I’m generally too stupid to stand a chance in anything resembling a “mystery” game, but if you click here you can read about someone else’s play-through if you want a general idea of how things go.

On a related note, Danganronpa, despite belonging to that same basic “mystery/adventure” category, simply couldn’t get by me without a second glance – not only are the guys behind Kenka Bancho making it, but the laser eyes have apparently been replaced by “high-speed talking battles.” I’ve gotta see that in action at least once…actually, I already can (if briefly), thanks to this trailer. (DToid coverage here and here.)

Next door, Kotaku posts some slightly distracted gameplay impressions of Super Scribblenauts – click the link to see what I mean. You can also check out a preview of some possible solutions to a certain puzzle.

You’ve already heard a bit of how Okamiden came to be, but this interview with the game’s producer expands on that and reveals a bunch of other interesting stuff in the process.

And Yet It Moves is one of those indie titles which gets name-dropped constantly; anyways, you might have heard that it’ll be joining Cave Story and La Mulana on the Wii. The date is August 23rd, the price is ten bucks, and over here is a trailer for it. (DToid coverage here.)

Just to ensure that the above-linked man-Miku cosplay from Otakon isn’t the only Hatsune Miku news for this week, here are five gameplay videos and a play test of Project Diva 2nd to entrance your eyes and ears. Oh, and a themed memory stick. Um, yay? Finally, if you don’t want to get ripped off via a bootlegged “Snow Miku” figure, make sure to read this.

In most video games, if you’re wielding a broom, you’re either flying around on it or casting a spell with it (or both): well, in indie offering Dustforce you *gasp* actually CLEAN with it! Granted, you ARE doing wall jumps and hanging from ceilings ninja-style, but you still won’t find many games in which your eternal adversary is clouds of dust. Anyways, download the demo and try it out! (C-blog item here.)

Elsewhere in indie platformer-ville, remember Tower of Heaven, which combined traditional run-n-jump challenges with a meanie-face God who constantly messes stuff up for you? If you’d rather not download it, you can now play a Flash version. By the way, why are so many of the most highly-ragarded indie games 2D platformers? Here’s one person’s perspective.

You might have already heard of a DS rhythm title called Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove, but you might not have known that former Cave staff members are developing it. Granted, this bunch probably wasn’t too closely associated with their famous shooters, but it still makes me curious about Ghostly Groove, nonetheless.

Well, Nippon Ichi did say they were going to make fewer games from here on out…it’s apparently started on down that road by canceling three unannounced projects. Let’s hope that their current batch of stuff turns out well…

Looks like DToid’s continuing coverage of Flip’s Twisted World hasn’t gone unnoticed by the developers: in fact, they whipped up a picture of the game’s main character sporting a corrugated Mr. Destructoid helmet. It must feel pretty cool to get personalized gifts just for doing your job!

DimmuJed puts forth some early impressions of his imported copy of Lost in Shadow, but also earns a finger wag for Fapping himself.

There’s a sale going on within the PSN – from now through August 9th you can get a bunch of games from there at a nice discount. A few notable titles include PixelJunk Shooter, Patchwork Heroes, Lunar: Silver Star Harmony, and Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess. (DToid coverage here and here.) Oh, and by the way, the latter game is coming to XBLA!

Speaking of sales, since it gives me an excuse to mention Mirror’s Edge, I’ll inform you that its (downloadable) soundtrack, along with several others, is discounted at Amazon mp3.

This photoshoot from Tomopop has a whole bunch of weird stuff going on, featuring several characters frequently covered in the Tribune – feel free to look around, but beware, you may never look at Woody from Toy Story the same way again.

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Aaaand that’s all she wrote: as always, thanks for reading and keep gaming obscurely.

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About BulletMagnetone of us since 9:04 PM on 10.04.2008

Thanks kindly for paying my blog a visit.

I'm currently looking for paid writing gigs, so if you might want anything written shoot me a message (craighats at hotmail dot com).

In case the contents of this blog don't make it obvious enough, I have something of an affinity for slightly "offbeat" titles, so if there's something out there that few others cover, there's a fair chance I'm at least somewhat up on it.

If there's any sort of (reasonable) inquiry you'd like me to address, please don't hesitate to be in touch.

Below are a handful of recaps and other links (oldest listed first by section), in case you're interested - asterisks mark promoted articles.